Tezuka Osamu's Astro Boy is one of Japan's most beloved and iconic characters; having blasted across TV screens, ripped through the pages of comic books and blown away the gaming industry. In 2009 Astro Boy flew farther than ever in the 3-D computer animated feature from Hong Kong's Imagi Studios. David Bowers (Flushed Away) keeps the original story about a robot child with super powers, and throws in one or two pizza boxes for good measure. Astro Boy with a western flavour then, bringing with it a top-notch Hollywood cast of voice talent, including Nicolas Cage, Nathan Lane, Kristen Bell and Donald Sutherland. Set in the future, a scientist (Nicolas Cage) is drowning in sadness, because his son (Freddie Highmore) was killed in a freak laboratory accident. He builds a robotic replica but things don’t turn out the way he planned. Rather than replace the child he lost, all he can think about is how much he misses his real son. The confused robot child is abandoned and left to rust on a scrap heap long forgotten by the residents of Metro City.

So he’s not a real boy then, go figure, which handily explains the jet powered boots and laser beams flying out of his ass. Any attempts at a new life are short lived when he hooks up with a gang of outcasts, fast becoming part of their nuclear (powered) family. Along the way he befriends a quirky troop of robots, a loyal robo-dog called Trashcan, and changes his name. Something cooler and a little more futuristic, that would be Astro then. Here’s the catch though, Astro doesn’t want his new family to know that he is everything they have grown to despise, so he sets out to keep his secret hidden. Evil awakes in the form of a despicable politician (Donald Sutherland) intent on claiming the essence of Astro for himself and harnessing its power. To do what you might ask? A really bad thing as it turns out, he is a politician after all. I mean evil… he is evil after all. Obviously....Continue reading review here.

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